Standing By Your Side, Forever
by Primevere
Summary: They met when they were six. Their friendship made them inseparable and they always stood up for each other. But they start to have feelings for each other in later years. Will they maintain their friendship or will the challenge of romance tear them apart? "When you're lost, just come find me and forever and ever by your side I'll be" - Tanner Cassandra.
1. Chapter 1 - Two Lonely Souls

_**A/N: I'm actually writing this and another (Dark Harry) story at the same time but I encountered some difficulties where I realised many parts that don't make sense, so it has been delayed. Since I'm already writing a Dark Harry story, I decided to make this a Grey Harry story... enjoy! =D (Edit 29 March: This is no longer a Light Harry story)**_

 _ **11 April: Slight edits done. May have missed out some things, but I tried. No point reading this chapter again, everything is the same.**_

 _ **7 November: Slight edits done, time skip changed from 2 years to 3 years, so Harry and Hermione are 9 by the end of this chapter.**_

 _ ** _ **Disclaimer: Flip through the last 14 year's worth of newspapers. See anything regarding JK Rowling transferring rights to Harry Potter to anyone else? No? I don't own Harry Potter then.**_**_

 ** **Standing By Your Side****

 _"Friendship is a single soul living in two bodies" ~ Aristotle_

 _ **Prologue**_

 __The young lady, barely into her twenties trudged through the thick snow layering the pathway. Snow whipped all around her, a result of the raging winds. Her flaming red hair blew behind her, her once bright and shining emerald green eyes now dull, exhaustion clearly shining through.

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

In her arms, a baby started screaming, shaken awake by the loud noise. She gently shook the baby in her arms and started humming a lullaby, visibly calming the baby. The baby fell sound asleep again.

Soon, the thick brick walls of the building towered over her, barbed gates slightly ajar. She gently pushed against the gates and it creaked open. She entered the compound and looked up, the words _Wood's Orphanage_ clear in sight. The lady unconsciously let out a sigh and gazed lovingly at the bundle in her arms. Her baby sleeping soundly, clearly at peace.

She hesitated for a second, rethinking her plan through, hoping to find any other alternative to the one currently in her mind.

 _No. It has to be done._

She walked up to the steps of the orphanage and knocked on the door. Her hands shook from the effort despite the simplicity of the actions after the exposure to the cold. The doors swung open to admit her. The warmth from the nearby fireplace and the cheer from the late night celebrations. A kind looking woman with shoulder length hair and bright blue eyes greeted her, inviting her into the room.

The lady, however, refused her invitation with a slight shake of her head, instead pushing the bundle into the caretaker's arms. "Please do what I cannot. Take care of him... take care of my Harry." With that, she turned to leave. The caretaker shouted for the lady but she paid no heed and continued leaving. In the commotion, the baby awoke, missing the warmth and aroma that came with his mother, he started wailing and swinging his arms wildly. "MAMA!" he shouted, flailing helplessly in the caretaker's arms. In instinct, the mother turned back for a last look at her baby, her flesh and blood, _her entire life_.

"Harry, your father and I will always love you. We may not be with you, but we will always love you. _Always_..."

And she was gone.

 _ **Chapter 1 - Two Lonely Souls**_

The happy, cheerful laughter of children was present in every corner of the room. Everywhere, you could see groups of children playing with all sorts of toys.

Scratch that. Let's start over.

 _The happy, cheerful laughter of children was present in every corner of the room._ Everywhere, but one isolated corner. The cheer of the occasion just didn't seem to be able to reach that area. That corner was visibly dimmer. Colder. You may think that when the two environments were compared, no one would choose the dark, moody area over the bright, cheerful room.

But one child did.

His name was Harry. Just Harry. He had raven black hair and emerald green eyes that would surely look better sparkling than its current dull state. But rarely anything lit those beautiful eyes up. Just the opposite in fact.

He was left at the orphanage on a New Year's eve 6 years ago. He was handed to the caretaker in a bundle of clothes and the only thing that was known about him was that his name was Harry. No family name. No background. Since then, he has stayed in the orphanage where he had the _best time of his life_. No seriously, I'm not kidding. I hope you get what I'm implying.

It wasn't that he was a jerk. He _was_ a very nice guy, in fact. He _used_ to be kind and caring. He _used_ to try and help everyone he could. But he wasn't appreciated. He was called a busybody. He was chased off whenever he wanted to help. Bit by bit, he lost his cheer. He sunk himself into books, reading stories of great heroes slaying their enemies and saving the world. _A world where kindness was appreciated._ Harry always buried himself in his books whenever he was upset. Which was all the time. These books were an escape from the cruelty of the world he lived in. These books told stories of children with poor backgrounds like him but growing to be great and everything ends up right in the end. But Harry knew that this wouldn't happen to him. But a boy was allowed to dream wasn't he? Of course, after his immersion into books, he was teased more. Books were thrown at him and on occasion, he would return from lunch to find some of his precious books ripped into shreds.

Then the "accident" happened. A kid, only a few years older than Harry, flung another book in Harry's direction. But this time, it was aimed straight at his head. And it was a hard cover book. Harry knew what was coming. He wouldn't be able to dodge the projectile. It would hit him straight on the skull. Probably life-threatening. Harry was afraid. He wanted out of this orphanage but certainly not this way. It's cliché but _he was too young to die_. To his shock, amazement and relief, however, the book was suddenly flung in another direction, hitting a nearby cupboard. The commotion caused the caretaker to come over to investigate. The kid made up some cock-and-bull sob story of Harry stealing the kid's book then throwing it at the kid, fortunately, missing. The caretaker doubted what the kid said, but there was no proof otherwise. So she just dismissed Harry after a light scolding.

After that day, he gained another nickname: _Freak_.

This is the part where I say that Harry was forever left alone and never bothered. That's not what happened. More kids came into the orphanage. The old ones were adopted, not before making up a story of Harry being this big bad bully pushing people around. The new kids continued the legacy of the older ones and they made Harry's life a living hell. This was when Harry was 4.

The bullying never stopped. Surely, there had been less bullying, but that was probably because the bullies got bored of Harry never fighting back. There were no more "accidents" so Harry dismissed the one 2 years back as a mere coincidence.

It was the Christmas of year 1996. Harry was buried behind his edition of Lord of the Rings. Yes, he was reading Lord of the Rings at age 6. Harry was special like that. Despite this, he would willingly give up his whole collection of books for a friend. Just one friend who stood by him for better or for worse. Preferably someone who liked books like Harry, but Harry wasn't picky. _His wish was about to be granted._

Hermione Granger had brown hair that was a mess on her head. She had light brown eyes and light skin. Her parents died when she was barely a month old and honestly, she wasn't as affected as she hadn't gotten the chance to know her parents. Her uncle took her in but he wasn't very nice to her. He wasn't abusive either. He merely didn't care for her as much as a parent would. Then, a week ago, her uncle died.

There were many different options for Hermione. She could go live with her aunt, her _other_ uncle, or her _other_ aunt. But, in actuality, all of them were afraid of Hermione. Barely a month after she came into this world and her parents died. And now, her uncle died while taking care of Hermione. So they decided to leave Hermione at an orphanage.

Hermione was clever for her age. When she went to school at 4, she was bullied because of her large front teeth and ridiculed because of it. She studied more and more, reading content a few days in advance. Soon, she was reading books that teenagers normally read.

She, like Harry, hoped, beyond anything in the world to have a friend. No one wanted to be friends with her. She was a know-it-all, always eager to answer questions in classes and sometimes, the teachers were annoyed with her as well. The bullying certainly didn't help. All Hermione wanted was a chance to prove herself to the world that she wasn't a useful "beaver-faced" "book-worm". Honestly, when your hand is up for almost the entirety of the lesson, it doesn't convince people you're not a "book-worm".

Books were her best and only friend, so you would understand when she was unwilling to leave most of her books behind, bringing only her favourite ones to her new home: _Wool's Orphanage._

 **Line Break**

It was New Year's Eve. The cheer was back during the dinner hours after everyone finished eating their dinner. Most children took out their toys and started playing with one another. Those who were tired went back to their dorms and started preparing for bed. Harry and Hermione, sitting on oppsite ends of the table, immediately started reading their books.

One of the kids, a fat lump of, uh, fats called Peter was known as "The Bully" in the orphanage and Harry was known as "The Victim". I think you can make the connection.

But today, Peter's target wasn't Harry. He approached Hermione and snatched the book off her hands, all the while sneering at Hermione.

"Hey! Give it back! That's mine!" Hermione shouted at Peter, jumping, trying to get her book back. One of Dudley's goons, Mark, roughly pushed Hermione back onto her seat and slapped her on the face, causing her to fall off her chair and slam into the cold hard ground.

"What's that beaver-face? I heard some barking. I'm sorry I don't speak Beaver!" Peter shouted taunting Hermione. The gang behind Peter burst into laughter. Hermione sat on the ground, tears threatening to come out of her eyes.

Harry had enough of that. He hated bullying. He abruptly stood from his seat and shouted, "Give her her book back!" Peter looked over at Harry and laughed, "Make me!"

Harry ran over to where Peter was and tried to snatch the book from his grasp, but he was quickly held into place by another 2 of Peter's goons. Peter slammed his fist straight into Harry's stomach repeatedly. Harry screamed in pain, he had just finished his meal and his stomach was full. The pain from the hit caused his eyes to fill with tears. Harry tried to fight back, but he couldn't overpower the 2 boys holding him. His legs buckled under him when he couldn't take the pain any longer.

"Thought you could save the girl eh? I'll teach you when you try to stand up against me!" Peter slammed another fist into Harry's stomach. Harry's face was red from the pain now, hot tears bursting from his eyes. "Hey! Maybe you two could be _friends_! The ugly beaver-faced book-worm and the "hero" book-worm!"

Peter punched Harry a few more times and turned to leave. His goons tossed Harry on the floor beside Hermione and followed Peter away. Hermione was openly crying now. Harry pushed himself into a sitting position despite the aching pain in his stomach and held Hermione by the shoulder, comforting Hermione. "Don't cry now. They're gone. Your face doesn't look pretty when you cry."

Hermione looked up at Harry and shouted, "You're just as bad as them! You're making fun of me!"

"No I'm not. You really look pretty... but only if you stopped crying." Harry said trying to comfort the girl.

"Really? You're not teasing me?" came Hermione's hopeful voice.

"Nope... I'm not!"

Hermione immediately began wiping the tears off her face and turned to look at Harry with a smile on her face. She leapt into Harry's arms and hugged him tightly, missing the wince Harry gave. "Thanks for standing up for me! No one's ever done that for me before!"

"Er... my stomach..." Harry whimpered, face contorted in pain. Hermione immediately released Harry from her "death grip" and frantically apologised, hoping Harry wasn't angry at her. She would hate to lose the one friend she had. _Does Harry even consider her a friend?_

"It's okay. It just hurt for a second and it's not your fault. And I helped you because I hate bullies and how they bully people. They always bully me too. I'm Harry by the way." Harry said after pulling himself and Hermione onto the nearby seats.

"I'm Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you!" Hermione responded, stretching out her hand for Harry to shake, which Harry did. Both noticed the look of apprehension on the other's faces.

"Is something wrong?" they both said at the same time, causing them to blush before they looked up again, saying, "You go first."

"Are we friends?" they both asked with a hopeful, yet scared look on their faces. Both wanted a friend beyond anything else and it would be nice to find a friend in each other.

Harry was the first to speak after an awkward minute of silence, "We'll be friends if you want to be my friend... I don't have any friends."

Hermione's face immediately lit up in joy and said, "I'd love to be your friend Harry! I don't have any friends either! Other people always make fun of me!"

The happiness that both of them felt was the most they've felt in their whole lives. Their greatest wish had finally come true: they had a friend!

The rest of the night was spent talking to each other about the things they liked and what their lives were like. They found many similarities between them. Both of them loved reading beyond anything else. They both wished to have a friend.

When it was time for them to sleep, they were both unwilling to go back to their rooms. They wanted to spend more time with each other, their only friend and they were afraid that this was all a dream, and that after they went to sleep, this would all disappear.

Once again, it was Harry who took the initiative. He stood up and took Hermione's hand in his, loving how her hand fit perfectly in his, and pulled her to her feet. "Goodnight Hermione! It's been nice talking to you!"

Hermione had a bright smile planted on her face, because she made a friend. Then, her face reddened when she felt Harry's hand grabbing her own and loved how Harry's hand felt. She responded with a "Good Night" of her own, before they parted ways to their own rooms.

 **Time Skip - 2 years**

It has been 2 years since that night when Hermione and Harry became friends. Ever since that night, they stuck together for everything. They sat together for meals. They sat together in lessons. They studied together. They read their favourite books together.

They were, in essence, the other's life. They were inseparable. He was her moral support. She was his source of happiness. They shared no secrets together and they shared everything. No time was wasted on petty arguments over personal belongings. This lead to a very happy friendship between the two of them.

Today, they were nervous. They were going to propose something to their head caretaker. Something, that probably wouldn't be allowed. But both Hermione and Harry hoped that their request would be approved. After the Christmas feast, Hermione and Harry walked up to the head caretaker and asked her if they could have a few words with her.

"Of course, Hermione, Harry. Is it another case of bullying? I hoped to have stopped that last year." Ever since last year, Hermione and Harry started reporting the bullies to the authorities and they have been punished, reducing the bullying cases by a huge amount.

"No Ms. Claire. It's not that. We just have something to propose and hope that you would allow it." Hermione said. She sounded confident and sure, but her eyes gave away her nervousness at what was about to happen. Harry reached over and held onto Hermione's hand and gently squeezed it, calming Hermione down.

Ms. Claire looked curious and motioned for the pair to follow her into her office. Harry closed the door behind him once they all entered the room. Ms. Claire took a seat at one end of her conference table and signalled for them to sit as well. Harry, being the gentleman he was, pulled a chair out of Hermione, which she graciously accpeted. Harry pulled a chair out himself and took a seat beside Hermione, all the while, their hands were interlocked and they drew comfort from that.

"So... how may I help you two?" Ms. Claire asked. She wasn't bothered with the contact that the two held, knowing that the two were the best of friends.

Hermione turned to face Harry, Harry doing the same to face Hermione. They seemed to hold a conversation through mere eye contact, something that Ms. Claire found impressive. _They must be very close, to be able to understand each other just through looks._

After a minute of "conversation", Harry spoke up, "Hermione and I were wondering if..." Harry trailed off, muttering the next few words so softly, Ms. Claire couldn't hear him. Harry's face grew red and fell silent. Hermione immediately squeezed Harry's hand, giving him the confidence needed to finish his sentence.

"Ms. Claire, Hermione and I were wondering if we could share a room with each other." Harry said quickly. "We really like spending time with each other and thought it would be easier if we shared a room together, that way, we could be with each other most of the time." Hermione added quickly, giving her own thoughts.

Ms. Claire looked at her two charges and gave a mental sigh. These two were clearly close and they seemed responsible enough to take responsibility of their actions. "Normally, this isn't allowed. Especially when two children of opposite gender are involved." Ms. Claire started. Hermione's and Harry's face fell immediately and Ms. Claire thought she saw some moisture in Hermione's eyes. "But, as you two are the most responsible children I've seen in my years here in the orphanage, and the clear closeness the two of you share, I have decided to make an exception to allow this, as long as the two of you are responsible for your actions. This means no petty quarrels over taking up each other's space, am I clear?"

Hermione and Harry instantly smiled and gave a cheer before leaping off their chairs to hug each other. After a minute with no sign of them about to let go of each other, Ms. Claire gave a soft cough, causing the pair to jump off each other and look down at their shoes, face red from embarrassment.

"I am sure both of you are extremely happy at the news of sharing a room but I'm sure those celebrations can wait?" After a quick nod from both parties, Ms Claire continued, "I will make arrangements for you to move to the guest rooms where there are space for two people. In the meantime, you guys can pack your belongings and wait to move to your new room."

"Thank you Ms. Claire!" Hermione and Harry chorused before leaving to pack their bags.

 _Give them 5 years and they'll be dating each other._ Ms. Claire thought. _But their friendship is good for each other. That's why I allowed them to share a room. Their friendship clearly are helping each other. I remember Harry ever since the day he was brought to the orphanage. Still a small baby. Then he grew up to be kind and caring but was bullied, causing him to be distant. And Hermione, quiet and withdrawn. Clearly bullied when she was young. But after their friendship, they both opened up and became happy. They really are good for each other..._

 _ **A/N: That's it! Next chapter would be some Harmony interaction and discovery of magic! (Edit 29/3: Letter will not be arriving so soon: I'm extending the "childhood" of HHr, but (spoilers), the orphanage will only**_ **exist _for a few more chapters._**

 _ **I think some of you think that they are too young to be sharing a room at 8, but there's no sexual content... its just sharing a room like some siblings do.**_

 _ **Anyway, R &R, I have a geography test tomorrow and I probably will be working on it after. Maybe if I can get at least 4 reviews, I'll post by Monday (I'll try... don't murder me if I don't!), otherwise, it should be done by Tuesday. As for my other unpublished story, I probably won't be working on that soon. Cheers, Primevere! =D**_


	2. Chapter 2 - Life and Magic

_**A/N: Yes! I KNOW I said i would post on Monday if I got more than 4 reviews, and YES, I did get more than 4 reviews. No far-fetched excuse... I was just lazy after a whole day of school and homework and just wanted some rest. Bad News: I wanted to include some cool plot twist involving kidnapping and the Delacours but it just didn't make sense so that idea goes out of the window. I have different ideas still pertaining to the Delacours and I just wanted to ask all of you on your opinions of whether adding the Delacours in would that that is out of the way, I just wanted to thank all of you for all the support... 56 follows and 22 favourites the last I checked! Wow... that's at least 10 times more than I expected =P**_

 _ **7 November: Slight edits done.**_

 _ **Enjoy this chapter! =D**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**_

 **Standing By Your Side, Forever**

 _"I would not wish any companion in the world but you." ~ William Shakespeare_

 _ **Chapter 2 - Life and Magic**_

"Oh my gods! Harry! I can't believe Ms. Claire actually allowed us to share a room!" Hermione squealed once she and Harry left the room. She jumped onto Harry and hugged him tightly. Harry, was ecstatic as well and returned the enthusiastic hug with a tight hug of his own.

"Let's go pack the stuff in our rooms! Who knows how long it would take with the amount of books we have!" Harry said after they released each other from the embrace.

"Maybe we should pack together! It'll be more fun and faster that way!" Hermione suggested. Harry immediately nodded and pulled on Hermione's hand, dragging the two of them to their first destination: Harry's room.

Harry's room had plain white walls, with tall bookcases leaning on the walls. The bookcases were filled with books of all sorts, and filled half of the whole room. At one corner of the room that wasn't occupied by a bookcase, a small wardrobe contained what little clothes that harry owned. Most of his allowances was spent on different books, resulting in him having less clothes than normal. Beside the wardrobe lay Harry's four poster bed. Harry and Hermione sat on the bed, looking up at the bookcases, both of them sharing the same thought: _This is going to take a while..._

After a painful hour of packing and taking inventory of _all_ of Harry's books, Harry and Hermione lay back on Harry's bed, too exhausted to move. Books were now found in every corner of the room and the once filled bookshelves were empty, a sight that Harry would never get used to. As he loved to say: _What is the use of a bookshelf if it isn't filled?_

Hermione's panting soon evened out as she started to fall asleep, her eyes drooping shut. Beside her, Harry tilted his head sideways to look at his friend, his _only_ friend. He knew that that true friends were not the ones who only supported him when he was at his best, but the ones who stand behind him when he's at his worst. Hermione had been by his side for the past 2 years, both of them supporting each other both emotionally and physically through the challenges that their tough life had brought them.

Harry's train of thought was broken when Hermione turned over, her front now facing Harry, and her arm swung carelessly over Harry's chest, hugging him. Harry put his arms around Hermione, resting gently on her back, careful not to wake her. The two shared a closeness that very few understood, but it was a friendship that both would fight their hardest to protect. As such, Harry was fiercely protective of his best friend and had silently vowed to himself to protect Hermione from anyone who would try to harm her. As he watched Hermione sound asleep in his arms, he couldn't help but feel how nice he felt with Hermione cuddled beside him, a peaceful look on her face. He couldn't help but think how nice it would be if the two of them could live their lives peaceful, without the cruel life in the orphanage, without the cruelty of the outside world. Perhaps, one day, Harry could bring Hermione and escape the cruelty of this world, to a land far away, where there was no one but themselves, where they would be able to spend the rest of their lives in peace, but most importantly, spend the rest of their lives together with the most important person in their hearts.

Hermione woke up hours later, finding her face to face with the sleeping form of Harry. Her arm was swung around Harry and Harry has his arms wrapped protectively around Hermione. As Hermione lay there thinking, she, like Harry, couldn't help but feel the serenity of the situation. No orphanage. No bullies. Her, and Harry, by themselves, living their lives carefree and happy, side by side. She smiled. She quite liked that idea. As she gazed at Harry, Hermione came to the conclusion that changed her life: Hermione needed Harry, and Harry needed Hermione. That's what friends are.

 **Line Break**

Harry woke up late in the morning and groggily checked the clock on the wall of the time before turning back and closing his eyes again.

 _Wait what?!_

Harry jumped out of bed, accidentally waking Hermione up in the process. He turned to the clock and checked the time again. _0950!_

"Ouch!" Hermione shrieked, still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Her bushy brown hair was exceptionally untamed, sprawling in every direction possible. Her brilliant eyes were dull, clouded with sleep, one hand rubbing her eyes. Her other hand supported her weight by resting on the nearby bookcase.

"It's 9.50 already! Breakfast ends at 10! We better hurry if we want to get there in time." Harry shouted over to her from behind one pile of books, searching for something new to change into for the day.

"Oh no! I'll see you later Harry, I gotta hurry back to my room to change!" Hermione launched off to her room just across the corridor.

Harry found his clothes and after a quick wash-up, changed into the fresh set of clothes. He met Hermione outside her room and together, they headed off to the dining hall. Somewhere in between, Harry's hand had reached over for Hermione's and their hands were now wrapped around each other's comfortably. They walked close to each other, shoulders barely an inch away from touching.

Harry quietly pushed the doors of the dining hall open, trying to attract as little attention as possible. But with Harry's luck, Peter was sat with his gang around him, facing the doors. As soon as Harry and Hermione entered the hall, Peter shouted, "So the two 'book-worms' finally decide to join us! What? We too dumb for you clever people?" Everyone tuned their heads to look in Harry and Hermione's direction, whispering speculations of what happened to those near them.

Hermione face grew red, in both embarrassment and anger, and bowed her head low, staring at the floor. Harry however, gripped onto Hermione's hand tightly and pulled her along to an empty spot somewhere along the table.

If there was one thing bullies hated, it would be being ignored. Dudley immediately stood up, fists clenched, "Don't ignore me, you idiots!" When he saw that Harry was completely ignoring him, he grew angrier and shouted across the room, "Look at me when I'm talking to you, stupid!"

He was about to continue his shouting, but Ms. Claire walked over from the teacher's table and immediately called for Dudley to keep quiet. Once the commotion had settled, Harry told Hermione, "You know you have nothing to be embarrassed of. Unless what he said was true, which it definitely wasn't, he have nothing to be embarrassed of."

Hermione smiled at Harry and replied, "You're right, but I just don't like all that attention focused on me, especially when it might be in a bad way. But thanks, I needed that."

Harry returned the smile and gave Hermione a short hug, whispering in her shoulder, "That's what friends are for isn't that?" Hermione's smile grew wider hearing that. It never failed to please her whenever there was proof of her strong friendship with Harry. Whether it be the regular hand-holding or hugging, or standing up for each other, it always felt nice no matter how many times it happened.

After breakfast was over, which it was very quickly, considering how late Harry and Hermione were to breakfast, there was a short 15-minute break before they headed off to their first lesson - Maths.

Harry didn't like the Maths teacher, neither did Hermione. 10 minutes into the lesson and they were reminded of it. The Maths teacher was a short, stern teacher that didn't like people questioning her. Whenever Harry or Hermione (They would take turns asking questions) raised their hand, the teacher also ignored them. If not, they would be scolded for interrupting "the flow of the lesson" as she so eloquently stated. Harry and Hermione's worksheets would always be graded strictly, with the teacher trying to find every single flaw that could be found. The teacher's reason for this was that "the two of you have shown that you are _exceptional_ , I would expect nothing less that _exceptional_ work".

Harry and Hermione didn't like this. They did all their work carefully, making sure to do their very best in every piece of work. After spending hours reading up on the topic, only to have it cancelled off because they were "unnecessary details" was very depressing. Also, for people like Harry and Hermione, who spend all their time searching for any extra piece of knowledge they could lay their hands on, being told off for asking too many questions wasn't what they would have liked. Of course, you would understand if they didn't like their teacher. In fact, most teachers were this way. The only teacher who appreciated them and their habits were Ms. Claire, who also believed in the never ending journey of obtaining knowledge. Their fellow orphans weren't much better. Most of them didn't like Harry and Hermione. They were either jealous of the knowledge they possessed or angry at them for "showing-off". But this barely mattered to Harry and Hermione. They had each other. That's all they needed.

 **Line Break**

After dinner, Harry and Hermione proceeded to the common room to finish their homework for the day. They had finished their dinner early and left the dining hall earlier in order to get the best seat by the fireplace.

Harry and Hermione worked quickly through their homework, the standard of questions were much lower than Harry and Hermione's standard. They managed to finish all their homework before the first of the children strolled into the room. While the worksheet may have been easy to Harry and Hermione, it was extremely difficult to complete for the other children.

Hermione stood up from her spot beside Harry and walked towards one of the children to try and help him. Harry followed closely behind after packing the sheets of paper into their bags.

The boy had a pencil in his hand as he looked at the worksheet, trying to solve the question. Hermione kindly pointed out the part that the boy had missed and then proceeded to solve the question for him.

Unfortunately, the boy was one of those in Dudley's gang and when he looked up at Hermione, he had a scowl on his face before shouting at Hermione, "Stupid show-off! I didn't need your help!"

Hermione started to tear up and a small tear started trickling down her face. As the insults increased, Hermione started crying openly before running out of the common room.

Harry swung both his and Hermione's bags onto his shoulders before running off, taking chase. Behind him, Dudley and his gang, who had been watching, started laughing at Hermione. Harry ignored this and continued running. He weaved through the corridors, out into the open fields and looked for Hermione at their usual spot.

Hermione was there, looking off into the distance, still sobbing silently. Harry placed their bags down and walked over to Hermione, giving her a tight hug. Hermione leaned into Harry's comforting embrace, sobbing loudly now. Harry stayed by Hermione's side, whispering comforting words to her. Once Hermione had calmed down, Harry leaned over to whisper by Hermione's ear, "Don't let those bullied get to you. So what if they don't appreciate your help? I appreciate you and that's all you need. Now stop crying and give me a smile."

Hermione quickly wiped what remained of her tears and gave a small smile. "Thanks Harry."

Harry just smiled back at her, "Happy to help. Let's go pack your room. If we're fast enough, we would be able to make it by tomorrow and we can move in together!"

A wide grin immediately appeared on Hermione's face and she grabbed Harry's hand tightly and literally pulled him to her room to start packing.

 **Line Break**

The packing had gone well at first. While Hermione was looking through a stack of books, Harry sat on her bed, looking at Hermione as she went about organising the books. Harry thought about him and Hermione sharing a room and immediately, a grin spread across his face. However, this was short-lived as a thick book, probably a dictionary, that was lying atop the bookshelf behind Hermione, tipped over the bookshelf and starting falling towards Hermione. Hermione hadn't noticed and was still looking through her books as the dictionary fell towards her. Harry knew that there wasn't enough time to warn her or push her away. He watched wide-eyed, with fear and shock, as the dictionary came nearer and nearer to Hermione's head. His heart raced a million miles an hour as he thought of any way to save Hermione.

Then, it happened again.

The book magically swung away from its crash course towards Hermione's head and crashed into one of the nearby bookcases, exploding into many pieces of paper. Hermione immediately screamed as she stared at the pieces of paper flying about.

Harry was torn between shock and relief. The "accident" had happened again! Hermione turned to look at Harry and looking at Harry's wide-eyed expression, she knew something was wrong. She sat on the bed beside Harry and wrapped an arm around him, pulling him towards him.

"What happened Harry?" Hermione coaxed, all the while rubbing her hand on Harry's back, trying to calm him. When Harry spoke, everything fell out,

"There was this book falling at you. I was scared. It was going to hit your head. I wanted to save you but I was frozen to the spot. Then the book just flew off. I don't know what happened."

Hermione looked thoughtful at this point, "Harry, remember that you told me about the miracle that happened a few years ago? Could the same thing have happened? And the time when my knees were bleeding after I fell but it healed after a few minutes?"

Harry nodded in agreement, "That could be true. These miracles couldn't just be our imagination if it keeps happening." Then an idea came to him, "Maybe we could learn to control it! Imagine the things we could do then!"

Harry had a grin on his face as he thought of how much his and Hermione's life would improve if they could learn how to control this "power" that they had. Hermione had a similar grin on her face as the same thoughts flashed through her mind.

Harry picked up the pillow placed on Hermione's bed and placed it atop one of the stacks of books. He raised one hand palm pushed open towards the pillow, trying to focus on his hand pushing energy into the pillow. After five minutes of holding out his hand and imagining the pillow bursting into flames or disappearing into thin air, Harry finally put down his hand and sat back on the bed.

"You try, Hermione. I might be doing it wrong." Harry gave a gentle push to Hermione. Hermione pushed herself to her feet and raised her hand in a similar fashion in Harry's and tried to imagine a flow of energy connecting her hand to the pillow, but similarly, it didn't work.

"Let's try again tomorrow. It's getting late now and I don't want to be late for breakfast again." Harry pulled Hermione into a hug with a smile on his face.

As Harry was moving to leave the room, he heard Hermione's soft voice calling out for him, "Um... Harry, could you... er... stay with me today? I like it when I can cuddle with you." She had a huge blush on her face and her head was turned to look away from Harry.

Harry walked back over to Hermione's side and cupping her cheek, turned her head to face Harry's. "Don't be shy. I liked it too."

"Really?" Hermione asked, her eyes gazing deep into Harry's.

"Of course!" Harry gave Hermione a grin and pulled her onto the bed. Once again, Hermione was cuddled deep in Harry's arms with Harry's arms wrapped strongly around her body.

"Good night, 'Mione."

Hermione blushed. "Good night, Harry."

 _ **A/N: This chapter is slightly shorter at 3k words. And it's kinda boring and badly written. I would appreciate it if all of you could review to me all of the problems I have so I could write better. Also, do you guys want a Harmony relationship earlier (next chapter) or later? Review pls.**_

 ** _Once again, I'm sorry for this stupid chapter and promise that the next chapter would have a little more action. Thx, Primevere~_**


	3. Chapter 3 - Burning in the Flames

_**A/N: I'm back with the new chapter with a hint of action at the end. Thanks, once again, for all the great reviews and all those who followed the story. A few of you mentioned that I should not use "Dudley" and his gang. In my opinion, it's not that big of a issue as they aren't really big characters and they aren't going to be developed in later chapters. If you guys really want it, I can change the names, but it'll hardly make ANY difference.**_

 _ **Regarding the harmony relationship issue, I'm really conflicted. Half of you support it, while the others think it's too fast. Personally, given their background and personalities (maturity), there's nothing much to question. But then I remember that they are only 8 (in Chapter 2) and that's really early to start a relationship.**_

 _ **7 November: Edits done.**_

 _ **Thank you to Philosophize, Taliesin19 and joemjackson for the support. If you guys haven't, go check their stories out. It's a lot better than mine and I get a lot of help from them and their fics.**_

 ** _Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. And no children or adults were harmed in the writing of this chapter._**

 **Standing By Your Side, Forever**

 _"Love is when you would give up your whole world, give up your life, your everything just to make sure that person you love is okay." ~ Unknown_

 _ **Chapter 3 - Burning in the Flames**_

The day after they finished with the packing of Hermione's room, they had moved into their new room. Two beds were placed beside each other in the centre of the room and, like in their original rooms, bookcases lined the walls. In one side of the room, a small study table sat with two chairs and a table lamp. The room was visibly larger than any room either had ever had.

They immediately dragged all of their belongings into their new room with the help of a few trolleys. They then spent the rest of the day organising their books on the bookshelves. Both had a permanent grin on their faces as they weaved through the books on the floor to get to the bookshelves.

Harry was currently placing a book on the shelf when he bent down to reach for another. When he lifted his head up, he came face to face with Hermione who had also bent down to retrieve a book. Their faces were less than an inch apart and they could feel the other's warm breath on their faces. Emerald green eyes met brown ones and they immediately jumped away from one another, both with large blushes on their faces.

 _Hermione is really pretty._ Harry thought.

Harry was shocked at his own thoughts and immediately looked down in shame. _Why did I think that? She's my best friend, for heaven's sake. She really is pretty though..._

Across from him, Hermione was having similar thoughts, thinking about how nice Harry looked at that moment. Both were confused by their emotions that were running through them as they felt an attraction to the other unlike anything they felt before.

"I'm sorry..." They both spoke up at the exact same time before looking down again, the blush growing larger.

"It was my fault!" They said again.

"Um... it's okay. It was probably an accident." Harry concluded. They resumed their unpacking.

It had been a few days since that incident and Harry was once again deep in thought about what happened. For some reason, he felt really awkward around Hermione now and she probably felt the same. They normally spent their free time cuddling and sitting close to one another, but now, after a short "face-to-face" encounter, they had become awkward with one another and barely talked to each other, giving short replied when they had to. They still walked together, but they kept their distance from one another. They didn't hold hands any more, nor did they cuddle in an armchair enjoying a book.

Harry hated this distance that was created between him and Hermione. He remembered when they were both fragile from their encounters with bullies and they were unbelievably close. Then, they had only each other for support. The thought of losing each other was enough to cause them to break down into tears. But now, their friendship is on the rocks. They lost the closeness that they usually had. They barely spoke. How do you maintain a friendship when you don't interact with one another.

Harry let out a sigh. As he thought about his slowly vanishing friendship with Hermione, all the good times he had with Hermione came back to him. That time when Harry stood up for Hermione when she just came to the orphanage. The times when they stood together when they were beaten and laughed at. The times when they studied together. The recent times when they held each other tightly in a warm embrace.

A tear escaped Harry's eye. It trailed down his cheek slowly, staining his cheek in a wet trail.

 _Hermione doesn't need me any more._

Tears fell freely now. He thought he had learned not to be too hopeful when his "friends" went away one by one. He thought he could keep to himself and protect himself from this emotional damage. But Harry had confided in Hermione, and now, he was broken. Lying on the cold, hard floor. Alone. Again.

In another side of the orphanage, Hermione was crying her heart out, hugging her knees to her chest. The familiar warmth of Harry's body pressed against her, with his arms wrapped around her was replaced with the cold chill of the cold night air and the hard, rough floor causing her feet to ache.

The feelings of awkwardness was now replaced by a feeling of loss. The loss of a friend.

 _ **Line Break  
**_

 __Both returned to their room at the same time, after spending an hour crying. When they saw each other, their red, swollen eyes filled with tears again. They turned away from one another and started preparing for bed.

That night was torture. Hermione lay on one side of the bed and Harry lay on the other, both feeling only the occasional chilling breeze and their bed beneath them. They had stopped hugging each other to sleep after the incident but now that they both came up with their explanations for the separation, the reality of the situation hit them hard. It was worse than any of the pain the bullies put them true. This was emotional harm. And they had been harmed, deeply.

They both fell asleep with they eyes drenched in unshod tears.

When Harry woke, Hermione was already gone from the room, along with her bag and all of the materials she needed for the day. Harry slowly prepared himself for the day, the pain of losing his friend still fresh in his mind. When Harry arrived at the dining hall, he saw Hermione eating at their usual spot on the table and started walking towards her. But then Hermione looked up and noticed Harry. She quickly averted her eyes, grabbed her bag and left.

Harry's eyes never left Hermione's retreating back. _I guess I'm right._ He thought to himself. _She doesn't need me by her side any longer._

He quickly left the dining hall, the reawakened pang of loss making him lose any of the appetite he had left. As he was walking down the hall way however, he heard someone calling for him.

He turned slowly, finding Ms. Claire looking at him with only concern in her eyes. "Are you okay, Harry?" she asked him.

Harry nodded slowly, not wanting to trouble Ms. Claire with his personal issues. But nonetheless, she already knew.

"I've noticed that you and Hermione has been distant this past few days. Ever since the day I allocated the new room to the both of you, the two of you have barely talked. I was afraid that this would happen when the two of you brought the issue of sharing a room with me. But I had convinced myself that the two of you would be fine, with your close friendship and all. Now, I see that I should not have made this choice as it has caused problems between the two of you." Ms. Claire told him.

Harry looked down and mumbled, "I'm sorry Ms. Claire."

"It is not me you have to apologise to. But it is to yourself, for allowing yourself to lose a great friend that is in Hermione. Tell me, what happened that caused this? An argument?"

"No Ms. Claire." Harry sighed. _No harm in telling Ms. Claire._ "We were unpacking our books then when both of us bent down to pick a book up, our faces came very close to one another and after that, I just felt really awkward around her. I really don't know what happened. We normally are very close. We hug each other, cuddle together, but after this strange feeling emerged during this incident, we just didn't know what to do."

Ms. Claire smiled at Harry, having an idea of what might have actually happened. "Yes. I understand. Go on for your next lesson now. See me at my office during dinner."

Harry nodded his understanding and trudged off to the next lesson.

Both Harry and Hermione were uncharacteristically quiet in class that day. They both seemed to stare off into space, and for the first time, not paying attention to the class. This lead to scolding from the teacher and a lot of laughing from their classmates. But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't seem to pay attention. They had too much on their mind.

They thought about their deteriorating friendship with one another. They thought about how it was their fault for avoiding each other due to awkwardness. They thought about the meeting they had with Ms. Claire after the lesson. While they both wanted to have their friendship and closeness back, neither were able to take the first step as both were now feeling awkward around the other.

The rest of the class seemed to drag on forever. Finally, the class bell rang and Harry left the class quickly, heading to Ms. Claire's office. Hermione took a longer time with her materials, without Harry's help, it became harder for her to pack her things. Once she was done, she left the class and started walking towards Ms. Claire's office.

Halfway there, she bumped into Peter and his gang again. Dudley walked straight into Hermione as if she wasn't there, causing her to fall to the ground and dropping all of her books. He and his gang burst into laughter and walked away, not before kicking a few of her books, causing them to be spread all across the hallway. Still in pain, she slowly gathered all of her books and placed them back in her bag.

In Ms. Claire's office, Harry sat patiently on the chair, waiting for Ms. Claire to start. Ms. Claire said that they still had to wait for one more person, and so, Harry waited patiently.

Finally, the door opened, revealing a sobbing Hermione, with her bag hugged tightly to her chest. Upon seeing this, Harry immediately leapt out of the chair and hugged Hermione tightly, trying to calm her. Once Hermione had calmed down, both had large blushes on their faces. Both remained this way for a few minutes, before Harry spoke up, "Hermione... I'm so sorry! When we were unpacking, I thought you looked really pretty, but after that incident, I just felt really awkward and couldn't work up the courage to talk to you." Harry had tears in his eyes now and it was getting hard for him to speak. But he knew that he had to let it all out in order for him to get his friend back. "I'm... I'm sorry Hermione. It was my fault... I should have talked to you about it. Please forgive me, Hermione. I can't survive without you with me." Tears fell off his eyes and dripped onto Hermione's shoulder. He felt the clothes on his shoulder slowly getting damp and he knew that Hermione was crying as well.

"Did you really think I'm... I'm pretty?"

Harry could only nod mutely on Hermione's shoulder.

Hermione's sobbing softened and a small smile appeared on her face. "I thought you looked really nice too. That's why I didn't talk to you about it... I was afraid that you would reject me for this and I didn't want to lose you. I really like being with you, Harry."

"Me too... I promise you, I will make sure we are never separated ever again. We'll stand together in everything, k Mione?" Harry whispered in Hermione's ear.

"Yes..."

Ms. Claire smiled knowingly at the pair, slightly relieved that she wouldn't have to explain the feelings the pair were feeling. _Not yet, at least._ At that thought, Ms. Claire felt a shiver go down her spine.

Once Harry and Hermione had calmed down, Ms. Claire spoke up, "I trust that the two of you are fine now?"

Harry nodded sheepishly while Hermione told Ms. Claire, "Yes Ms. Claire. Thank you for helping us sort out this problem."

Ms. Claire chuckled, "The only thing I did was allow the two of you to have a chance to sit down and talk to each other. I hope that this would be a lesson to both of you. No matter what, we should always take the time to clarify, before the situation gets worse and more people get hurt."

Harry and Hermione both nodded before heading back to their rooms, with their hands entwined, both of them enjoying each other's company after days of separation. When they finally arrived at their door, they quickly changed into comfortable clothing before they cuddled on the bed, holding each other tightly.

Hermione fell asleep first, a small, cute smile on her face as the events of the past few days caught up to her. Harry was still awake, focused solely on Hermione. He truly felt that Hermione was pretty and was glad to have Hermione as a friend.

Harry softly kissed Hermione on her forehead before leaning towards her and whispering,

"I swear I'll protect you for the rest of my life from harm. I... I love you 'Mione. Good night."

 _ **Line Break  
**_

 __Hermione and Harry woke up a few nights later to sounds of laughter and explosions. A weird combination. Harry was instantly alert and switched on the lights to the room while Hermione sat upright on the bed, eyes widened in shock and fear. Harry extended a hand towards Hermione, and she took it, holding it tightly, drawing comfort from it.

Slowly, they inched towards the door, careful not to make any sounds that could alert anyone nearby. The explosions continued, now coupled with screams from both children and adults.

Harry gently opened the door, feeling terrified at the possibility of something dangerous in the halls of the orphanage. But Harry had to stay strong for his Hermione. He had to put on a strong face and protect Hermione, just as he had swore.

The hallway was dark and were it not for the light from their room, Harry wouldn't have been able to see a thing.

He heard an explosion to his right, so he immediately ran towards his left, pulling Hermione along with him. Hermione was shivering in fear. Were it not for Harry's presence, Hermione would have collapsed minutes ago.

They ran as quickly as their legs could take them, but the explosions seemed to come closer and closer. Hermione had tears in her eyes, causing her vision to blur and unable to see what was happening. Hermione heard another explosion upfront, and Harry instantly pulled her into a room, away from the most recent explosion.

There were bookshelves lining the large area, all of them filled with books. Suddenly, crazed laughter filled the air while Harry and Hermione immediately dived behind some bookshelves.

Harry peeked his head out slightly to investigate and saw a figure a figure dressed in black... robes? The figure was holding out a stick and there was a slight glow on it. The light was reflected off a mask made of silver. She had curly dark hair flowing down to her shoulders. She was laughing crazily as she pointed her stick towards the librarian's counter. An orange fire-like blast emerged from the tip of the stick and was propelled towards the counter. Once it came into contact, the counter along with anything close to it exploded, leaving nothing but rubble.

Behind him, Harry felt Hermione sobbing silently in terror. Harry could only squeeze her hand to calm her down as he continued to observe the lady with the stick. Suddenly, she turned to face Harry and immediately flicked the stick in her hand, sending a bright white light in Harry's direction. Being bullied for years had its uses, as Harry easily dodged the beam by swerving to the side. However, the beam impacted with the floor behind Harry and exploded, blasting Harry across the library, crashing into a few bookshelves before coming into a stop. Hermione was shot straight into what was left of the librarian's counter, depositing her right in front of the lady.

The lady continued laughing maniacally, "Little kids have come out to play... Crucio!"

Hermione started convulsing on the spot as her face grew red and she started screaming. "Harry! HELP! HARRY!" Hot tears fell off Hermione's eyes as she continued screaming for help and in pain.

Several of Harry's bones were already broken, including a few in his right leg. However, upon hearing Hermione's cry for help, he started dragging himself towards Hermione to help her.

With another flick of her wand, Harry was levitated into the air, spinning in circles, with his whole body screaming in pain. Hermione's screams stopped, replaced now by sobbing while she muttered Harry's name.

Harry tried everything he could to break out of this sorcery that the lady inflicted upon him, but to no avail. He would give his life right now just to help Hermione with her pain. Seeing Hermione in such pain and no being able to do anything broke Harry's heart over and over again, inflicting pain upon him beyond that of his broken bones.

Suddenly, the lady gripped her left forearm, swearing under her breath, before vanishing into thin air.

Harry was dropped onto the floor heavily, his body screaming in pain at the sudden impact. It took him several minutes to get used to the pain and when he did, he made his way towards Hermione, who was still lying in a foetal position, shivering in pain. He heard the desperate whispers of "Harry" coming from Hermione's lips and Harry felt another wave of guilt and remorse wash over him. He wasn't able to protect Hermione just as he had swore. He had allowed Hermione to get into harm's way. He allowed Hermione to get hurt.

Harry lightly wrapped Hermione in his undamaged right arm, his left arm dangling uselessly beside him. Hermione calmed visibly but she continued to shiver in pain, with an occasional spasm. Harry silently sobbed as he looked as his friend's fragile form, wishing to do something about it. He felt a slight warmth trailing from his heart through his arms into the tip of his fingers. He saw the slight glow travelling out of his fingers, through the air and into Hermione's body.

Slowly, Hermione stopped shaking. She felt no more of the intense pain she felt in the past few minutes. She felt the warm, comforting embrace of Harry and she looked up to face Harry. Upon seeing that Hermione was okay, Harry let a slight smile appear on his exhausted face as he said, "I'm sorry Hermione. I didn't manage to protect you."

Harry collapsed onto the floor of the destroyed library, his hand that was once wrapped around Hermione falling to the floor. Hermione leaned towards Harry and hugged him, tears gathering in her eyes, "It wasn't your fault Harry. I don't blame you... just come back to me. I need you... I... I love you, Harry."

 _ **A/N: And... I'm done. I'm changing quite a few things once I post this chapter. Firstly, the genre is probably going to change. Next, the summary is DEFINITELY changing. I'm not sure if you guys would like this chapter. I think it's bad. I think you can tell, I have an inferiority complex. But it's getting better. So far, I've gotten only positive reviews with slight comments on how to improve and its really helping with my morale. So, once again, review if you have any suggestions, comments or questions, or just for the sake of reviewing. Cheers, Primevere!**_


	4. Chapter 4 - Rising from the Ashes

_**A/N: Yes, I'm late again. Yes, it's not the first time. Yes, I have an excuse. Here's it: For the past few weeks, I have been having my mid-year exams and thus, I didn't have time to write. I had spent some of my break time writing and managed to write 2k words. However, after asking for other's opinions, I realised that what I wrote conflicted with what they wanted and what they thought would be "legit". So, I deleted all of that content, slapped myself for wasting time, and wrote this version.**_

 _ **Now I'm done with that, I would like to thank all of the people who followed and reviewed. I got one or two reviews I didn't agree with and PMed the users but did not receive a reply yet. If you are one of these users, please reply so that I can take your opinion into consideration and try to improve my story. That being said, I have also received a few messages commenting on my style of writing as being "not to their expectations" or not agreeing with the way I portray my characters and their abilities/personalities. Honestly, if I'm going to stick to everything J.K. Rowling wrote, I might as well not write. I'm one of those people who believe that the most important thing affecting the flow of stories are the characters and what they do, or simply, who they are. I apologise if any of these characters are not to your expectations, and I have a suggestion: write your own stories. That's the only way to ensure the characters are exactly how you want them and the style of writing would be just as you like it.**_

 _ **I still have a lot of things to clear up in this note so bear with me. So firstly, someone got the idea that I was making this into a Harry/multi fic, with Fleur and Gabby joining Harry. I understand how someone could have come to this conclusion. I mentioned a few chapters back that I was going to include the Delacours and I meant just that. Delacour is a family name and by Delacours, I meant their whole family. So yea, no Fleur/Harry/Gabby in this fic.**_

 _ **Someone mentioned that the relationship is going too fast and they shouldn't even be so close in the first place. I'm going to mention something I learnt early in my schooling days. Characters in stories are affected by different factors: their environment being one of them. Harry and Hermione's "environment" forced them to grow up quickly, shaping their personalities and qualities. This "environment" also affected their choices, causing different things to happen. That's why everyone is unique. We are shaped by our experiences and how we react to them.**_

 _ **Any other answers to reviews were sent through a PM, especially if there was a possibility of a spoiler.**_

 _ **7 November: Edits done, fixed a few errors.**_

 _ **That's all. Hope you enjoy this chapter, follow, favourite it and review. Cheers.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Me no own Harry Potter.**_

 **Standing By Your Side, Forever**

 _"In your eyes, I saw the sunshine, I saw the sunrise and I saw a love that will never end because I'll be there to protect you." ~ Unknown_

 ** _Chapter 4 - Rising from the Ashes_**

Harry slowly opened his eyes, feeling pain shooting through his body and numbness on his left arm. Yesterday's events caught up to him as he remembered the explosions and how he and Hermione and fled for their lives. He remembered the masked people cloaked in dark robes holding what seemed to be wands. He remembered the woman who found and tortured them.

He looked to his side to see the familiar mess of brown hair sprawled on his chest. Hermione clutched Harry's arm tightly, holding Harry tight against her. Hermione looked at peace with a slight smile, her eyes closed, features relaxed. Harry gently smiled at her, happy that she managed to find peace in her sleep. Harry had not been so lucky. Even in his sleep, his dreams continued to torture him.

The crazed laughter of Hermione's torturer as she tortured Hermione.

Hermione's anguished screams shouting for Harry.

And most of all, what hurt him beyond everything else: the helplessness he felt. Being thrown to the side, unable to help as Hermione was tortured. Being forced to listen to the cries for help, but unable to do anything. His heart broke every time he heard his only friend, the one he cared for beyond anything else, scream in pain. He had been too weak. He had been unable to fight back. He had promised to protect Hermione, but he had failed.

 _I will get strong. I will find out what those sticks were and how to use them. For Hermione, I must get strong. I will NOT let her get hurt again, even if it costs me my life._ Harry whispered to himself. He tucked a few strands of Hermione's hair behind her ear and gently kissed her forehead, "I love you Hermione. For you, Hermione, I would do anything."

Harry shifted to lie on his side, facing Hermione, before wrapping his arms around Hermione's small body and pulling her close to him. He forced himself to stay awake, despite his body protesting loudly. He didn't want Hermione to wake up and not have someone to talk to, so he kept his eyes open and stayed awake, his body pressed comfortably to Hermione's.

 **Line Break**

Hermione sighed in content as she woke up. The first thing she felt were the arms wrapped around her and the body pressed against her. She recognised Harry's smell and buried her head deeper into Harry's chest, loving the feeling of security this gave her. Harry sensed that she was awake and started to pull away from Hermione, wanting to give her some space. However, Hermione pulled Harry's body towards her defiantly, not wanting to let go.

"Don't. I like it."

As such, Harry put his arms around Hermione again, causing Hermione to sigh contently once again.

After a few minutes of Hermione snuggling close to Harry, she started to think about the previous day. The immense pain she felt and laughter from her torturer. She had screamed the first thing she thought of: Harry. As she was being tortured, she knew she was going to die eventually if this didn't stop. At once, she had thought of Harry and the felt sadness in knowing that she may never see Harry again. She thought of Harry's life without her. He would be lonely, like he had been before Hermione's arrival at the orphanage. Hopefully, he would be able to make some friends and he wouldn't be as lonely. But, against all odds, the pain had stopped and she had survived. Her entire body still ached however, and she saw Harry trying to make his way towards her. He had hugged Hermione tightly and with the embrace, Hermione could feel all of the care and concern Harry felt for her. She had felt a slight tingle pass through her and the aching slowly faded. But Harry had immediately collapsed, probably due to exhaustion, and Hermione had imagined the worst. She remembered her words to Harry that day and smiled. While Harry might not have heard it, she still felt immense relief at finally being ale to express her hidden feelings towards Harry. Harry, the kind-hearted, caring boy that had came to Hermione's aid when she was bullied. Hermione raised her head slightly to look at Harry, her body still pressed tightly to Harry's. Harry was smiling down at her, his beautiful green eyes filled with fatigue, but also with care and concern for Hermione.

"Harry, I'm scared."

"Don't worry 'Mione. I'll be here for you. I will never let you get hurt again. That is my promise to you. For as long as you still want me as your friend, I will be by your side protecting you. Even if you no longer want to be my friend, I would still do my very best to protect you. You mean a lot to me 'Mione, when you were hurt, I felt my heart hurting over and over again. I will never let you go through what you had to go through ever again. I promise."

Hermione looked into his eyes, seeing only the honesty and sincerity of his words. Hermione resumed her place, snuggled deep into Harry's chest before whispering, "You silly prat. I will always want you as my friend. You will ALWAYS be my friend, my best friend. Harry, I didn't want to say this at first, but now, I think I should. Please don't laugh or think any less of me after this." Hermione took in a deep breath, her heart pounding in her chest, her mind racing with possibilities of what would happen. Rejection, shock, denial. But she had to do it, even if Harry never returned those feelings, Hermione would still be by his side. She turned her head again to face Harry. Looking straight into his eyes, she took in a deep breath and said,

"I love you, Harry. When I was being tortured, I thought I was going to die. And the first thing I thought of was you. The sadness I felt when I thought I was never going to see you again. Then the fear I felt for you when you collapsed. I know I love you Harry. If you don't feel the same way it's ok, I know I'm an ugly bushy haired bookworm. Please, Harry, just don't leave me."

Hermione had closed her eyes shut somewhere in the middle, afraid of looking into Harry's eyes and finding rejection, pity or disgust. She knew she would die right then if she saw any of those things. But she braced herself for such possibilities and slowly opened her eyes, finding Harry with a large grin on his face. "Don't talk about my best friend that way! I happen to adore the way her hair feels and her love for books! And if you haven't figured out by now, I love you too, 'Mione. You are my whole world."

Hermione felt a smile appear on her face unconsciously. She was overwhelmed with happiness when she heard Harry say that he loved her too. All of her fears were immediately gone as she stared at the boy in front of her. The two were simply content with staring into each other's eyes. Then it struck her. What if...

Hermione immediately looked down and turned her entire body around, making her back now facing Harry.

Harry was confused. He was so happy when he heard Hermione confess her feelings to him, knowing that the one he loved returned his feelings was such a pleasant thing. After a few minutes, however, Hermione had pushed herself away from him.

Harry pushed himself forward, now wrapping his arms around Hermione, resting his hands on her stomach. "What's wrong 'Mione? You can tell me."

However, Hermione simply ignored him and shifted uncomfortably in Harry's embrace. _Did she regret saying what she said now? Maybe she was still shocked from yesterday and said it on impulse._

Harry slowly turned Hermione, with Hermione struggling against him, trying to stop him. When Harry finally managed to look at Hermione, he was shocked to find a lone tear travelling its way down Hermione's cheek. Harry gently wiped the tear away as he asked, "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong? Please 'Mione, don't ignore me... it's killing me."

Hermione looked away from Harry before quietly murmuring, "You just said what you said to make me happy isn't it? No one can love me..."

She was cut off my Harry who placed a gentle finger on her lips. "Never doubt what I said Hermione. I love with you all of my heart. Without you, I would be nothing. The day I became friends with you and every day that followed were the best in my life. In every single one of my happy memories, you were with me. I repeat, Hermione, never doubt for a second that I love you."

As much as Hermione wanted it to be true, she knew it was too good to be the truth. She squeaked, "Really?"

"Yes 'Mione." Harry gave Hermione a gentle smile, before leaning his head forward and planting a quick kiss on Hermione's cheek. As he pulled back, he said, "Now do you believe me 'Mione?"

Hermione eyes were wide with shock. She lifted her hand, gently touching her cheek, trying to remember how nice, how perfect it felt in the second where Harry's lips were pressed against her cheek. After a few seconds, she slowly nodded her head and said, "I ... I love you too, Harry."

Harry beamed at her, "Now that wasn't too hard was it?" He pulled her in to a tight hug, with Hermione returning the hug a second later. Both spent the next few minutes in comfortable silence, revelling in the love they felt from the hug.

Harry leaned towards Hermione's ear, resting his chin on her shoulder, "I love you 'Mione. With all of my heart, I do."

Hermione whispered back, "Thank you Harry. For everything."

 **Line Break**

Harry and Hermione pulled away from each other when they heard footsteps coming from down the corridor. Harry's eyes immediately went wide while Hermione shivered in fear. Harry immediately gripped one of Hermione's hand and pulled her up along with him. From the floor, he picked up a large chunk of stone, holding it in a tight grip. He gently pushed Hermione behind him, protecting her with his body. Hermione was frightened. Her fear had been amplified when she remembered the attack on the orphanage yesterday. She knew Harry wouldn't be able to handle it if any danger came their way and instead of Hermione, Harry would be the one in pain this time. She didn't know if she would be able to handle that. The thought of putting Harry through what she had been through was revolting. The experience had left scars on Hermione, both physical and mental. Scars that she didn't want on Harry.

Nonetheless, Harry slowly moved forward, making sure that no one would be able to sneak up on them. His eyes shifted constantly from the doorway to his 'Mione. The footsteps grew louder and louder and started to slow down. Harry stopped moving and lifted the stone slightly. When a tall, broad-shouldered French man came through the doorway, holding a stick resembling the one used by Hermione's torturer, Harry had flung the stone at the man without a second thought. The man's eyes immediately went wide and he slashed his wand, blasting the stone into many pieces. Harry quickly bent down to pick another stone up, but the man jabbed the wand in Harry's direction, causing Harry to turn stiff and fall to the floor. Hermione screamed and held onto Harry's hand. Tears flowed openly as she thought of all the horrible things the man could have done to Harry. She just got her Harry back... she couldn't lose him again! "Harry! Harry! What did you do to him?!"

The man was at a loss of what to do. He couldn't let the boy continue to attack him, but he saw how much the girl cared for Harry and how much the girl had been hurt when he had used a full body bind on the boy. Behind him, he could hear his wife running up towards him and upon seeing the scene before her, immediately shouted for him to undo the bind. With another swish, the bind was released and the young boy was immediately alert again. Upon seeing the two adults at the doorway, he immediately pushed Hermione away, shouting, "Hermione! Run! I'll distract them! Go!"

Harry picked a nearby stone up and flung it at the man one again, only for it to be destroyed again. However, the lady had enough of this and immediately shouted for them to stop. The man slowly lowered his stick while Harry stood up, slowly backing away from the couple, pulling Hermione with him. The fear was evident in his eyes, but he stood defiantly against the couple. He had made a promise to Hermione to protect her. He would honour it.

"Please." started the lady, who had silvery blond waist length hair and shining blue eyes. Her figure was perfect and she looked just into her twenties. "We are not going to hurt you. We were just passing by when we saw the damage done. Could you please tell us what happened?"

Harry still eyed the couple warily, but his posture was now slightly relaxed. When he was sure he was a comfortable distance away from them, he started to tell them about what had happened the previous night. When Harry had described the attackers, the couple's eyes widened and the man immediately had his hand into his pocket which held the stick he used. When he was finished with his story, the man pulled out the stick and Harry immediately stiffened again. The lady, seeing Harry's discomfort, quickly explained, "This is a wand, we use it to do magic. We're going to try to take away your pain, but you have to trust me, ok?"

Harry gave a quick nod. When the man raised his wand, Harry felt Hermione tense up behind him and immediately said, "I trust you, miss. I don't trust him."

The lady gave the man a mock scowl while taking out her own wand, pointing it at Harry, whispering something. Harry raised a questioning eyebrow when he felt no difference. The lady looked shocked by this and immediately raised her wand again and whispering something different. This time, Harry felt more energised and felt the numbness in his left arm fading away. When it was Hermione's turn to get healed, she hid behind Harry and refused to come out. Harry gave her hand a light squeeze and whispered, "Do this for me, ok 'Mione?"

"For you." was the hushed reply.

With a hand still holding onto Harry, Hermione stepped forward. Just like with Harry, the first try did not work, but with the second try, Hermione felt much better. When both Harry and Hermione were adequately healed, the lady pulled the man to a side and they started speaking with hushed tones. Harry immediately pulled Hermione into a hug, "I'm so proud of you. We'll get through this together." Harry gave a smile and Hermione responded with a weak smile.

After a few minutes of conversation between the lady and the man, they walked back to Harry and Hermione and once again, the lady spoke, "Now that we're slightly more comfortable, I am Apolline Delacour and this is my husband, Alain Delacour. I am a witch and my husband is a wizard. As I have said previously, we use our wands to do magic. Like all humans, there are bad and good wizards. The wizards that attacked your orphanage are the bad ones. When I tried the first spell, a spell that would only work on non-magical people, it didn't work. When I tried the second spell, a spell that works only on people with magic, it worked on both of you, showing that both of you are magical like us.

"Now, I realise that the both of you are orphans with no where to go now. I know we started off badly, but I would like the both of you to forgive my foolish husband. He had reacted without thinking and caused the two of you to be afraid. My husband and I are sorry. If the both of you are willing, my husband and I could take the two of you to our home so we could take care of you for a few days before you decide if you want to stay or go to another orphanage. If both of you agree, we could adopt the both of you and raise you as our own. So, what do you say?"

Harry knew he hardly had a choice. He wouldn't be able to take care of both himself and Hermione if they were alone. Furthermore, this was his chance to learn magic and protect Hermione as he promised. This was an opportunity that he could not afford to miss. Just to check, he asked, "Would I be able to learn magic if I went with you? Would I be able to protect Hermione from those evil wizards if they attack again?"

Apolline smiled kindly at Harry. "Of course! We could teach the both of you all you want to know about magic in our home. And if you're wondering about company, we have two daughters."

Harry turned to Hermione and asked her for for her opinion. She had been slightly subdued ever since the attack and Harry was worried for her. Hermione just gave a slight nod in response. Harry pulled Hermione into a hug before turning back and replying, "Mrs. Delacour, Hermione and I accept your offer and thank you for your hospitality."

Apolline smiled and just replied "My pleasure." before holding out a hand for Harry. Harry lightly took her hand and with Apolline's warning of "hold on tight", Harry tightened his hold on both Apolline and Hermione. With a soft 'pop' and another 'pop' following them, the four of them vanished from the scene.

 _ **A/N: That's it. I promise I'll be updating more often now that the exams are over. If you have any comments (about the logic of the story or the fluency), feel free to PM/review! And just a note: I'm making both Harry and Hermione's 'birthdays' to be on Christmas.**_

 _ **Follow, Favourite and Review! Tell me if you like this chapter or not and if there any changes you wish were made! Cheers, Primevere~**_


	5. Chapter 5 - Independence?

_**A/N: Yay I'm back! It's been so long since I've written one of these notes at the start of a chapter so I'm a little lost. First off, I guess I would like to thank all of my friends who have helped me through a difficult period in my life. Next, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed or responded to my request for help a few days back. I am glad that so many of you like my work! Thank you to HungryHeadlessHunter, Deliberatee and emiya-excalibur on that.**_

 _ **Special shout-out to Taliesin19 and Gnom3y!**_

 _ **On another note, I have made slight edits to all the previous chapters and the only thing of notice is that Harry and Hermione are now 9 due to the incident happening a few days after Christmas, therefore causing the year to end around the time of the incident.**_

 _ **Sorry for this chapter taking longer than the promised date (Monday). I was trying to make it a longer chapter for you guys, while resolving a major concern that most of you have expressed.**_

 _ **Enjoy! :D**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!**_

 **Standing By Your Side, Forever**

 _"Sometimes you need to be alone, in order to find out who you really are and what you really want" ~ Unknown_

 ** _Chapter 5 - Independence?_**

After Apolline 'pop'ed them out of the orphanage, Harry and Hermione were finally able to take a breath of fresh air.

"I apparated us directly to the entrance of the orphanage, so that we can make our way to our car. we'll have to head to the Ministry of Magic in order to apply for transport to France and back to the Delacour estate."

Harry and Hermione turned to find Apolline talking to them with a slight smile. Alain was a distance away, trying to start the car.

"Let's head to the car, we can introduce ourselves during the journey."

With a nod, Harry and Hermione headed towards the car before entering it, with Harry and Hermione taking the back seats while Apolline sat at the front, with Alain at the wheel.

The journey was spent talking, with Harry and Hermione introducing themselves to the Delacours and with the Delacours explaining different parts of the magical world to the children. However halfway throughout the journey, Hermione had fell distracted and started to think about her relationship with Harry.

She immediately thought about the slight kiss Harry had given her on the cheek as well as the moment they shared in what remained of the orphanage. While this had immediately brought a slight smile to her face, she started thinking about her part in the relationship. Throughout the relationship, even before they truly became friends, it had always been Harry who had protected her. Harry was the one who put himself in front of Hermione whenever they faced danger, selflessly doing his best to protect her, however, all that she had done was hide and cry behind Harry, frightened out of her wits.

She recalled when they had first met, when Hermione had been bullied by Peter and his gang. Harry had tried to protect her but ended up taking a beating himself.

 _Peter punched Harry a few more times and turned to leave. His goons tossed Harry on the floor beside Hermione and followed Peter away. Hermione was openly crying now. Harry pushed himself into a sitting position despite the aching pain in his stomach and held Hermione by the shoulder, comforting Hermione. "Don't cry now. They're gone. Your face doesn't look pretty when you cry."_

While Hermione had only been pushed to the floor, Harry had taken a full beating. In the end, instead of Hermione helping Harry, who had clearly suffered more injuries, it was Harry who had to comfort Hermione.

Again, during the attack on the orphanage, Hermione had been frightened and was crying, while Harry had been the one who had to pull Hermione along.

 _Hermione was shivering in fear. Were it not for Harry's presence, Hermione would have collapsed minutes ago._

After both Harry and Hermione had been tortured by their crazed assailant, it was once again Harry who had miraculously healed her and proceeded to comfort her, all the while suffering from his one injuries.

It was then that Hermione came to a conclusion: She was relying too much on Harry. She felt like a burden, a deadweight to Harry. She felt like the useless one in her relationship with Harry. _She needed to change._

If she continued the way she was, Harry would eventually see her for what she was - a burden - and leave her for someone else, someone who was more capable of standing by Harry's side, supporting him instead of hiding behind his back, causing problems for Harry.

She needed to become stronger for Harry. No, for herself. To prove to herself that she was more than a burden to Harry. The Delacour's arrival had given her the perfect opportunity to become stronger. According to the Delacours, she, like Harry, had magic. She would use this opportunity to learn more about magic, to become better, and to finally be able to stand by Harry's side, protecting him just as he had always protected her.

But first, she had to isolate herself to be independent. The last thing she would need is to become over dependent on Harry before she had the chance to learn to become stronger.

 _ **Line Break**_

 __After a long ride, during which both Harry and Hermione had fell asleep countless times, they had finally arrived in a road named Whitehall. Apolline gently shook Harry, who was still asleep, awake, while Hermione opened the door and stepped out of the car.

Apolline and Alain took the lead and walked into a telephone booth. Harry and Hermione, seeing how the phone booth seemed way too small to fit all four of them, decided to wait outside the car.

Harry was just about to reach for Hermione's hand, when Apolline told the two of them to walk into the phone booth with them. While Harry eyed the booth sceptically, Hermione immediately walked forward and entered the booth. Seeing that Hermione had somehow managed to squeeze into the booth, Harry decided to follow and stepped into the booth, only to find it much bigger on the inside than on the outside.

Harry was still wondering how it was possible, when Alain spoke up, "Expansion charm. Makes something much bigger on the inside than it seems on the outside."

Harry nodded in understanding, before asking, "So... what are we doing here?" The inside of the booth, while much bigger than a regular phone booth, was identical to a regular phone booth, with a single phone attached to the opposite wall.

Alain chuckled and swung an arm around Harry's shoulders, gently leading Harry over to the phone. Harry tensed at the initial contact but slowly relaxed as he had gotten to know more about Alain Delacour and was slowly starting to trust him.

"Watch and learn... you children may need to know how to get into the Ministry sometime in the future." Alain told Harry, while dialling the numbers "62442". Harry looked confused once more before Hermione explained, "They spell out the words 'Magic'."

Alain smiled, "Correct, my dear, now get ready."

 _"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."_

"Alain Delacour, Apolline Delacour, Harry and Hermione. Here to request an international portkey for return travel to France."

Four silver badges shot out of the slot, with each one having a different name on it.

Before Apolline had the time to give the badges out to the children, the floor of the phone booth crashed downwards, before finally jerking to a stop, arriving at a giant hall. The party of four made their way to a counter, where Alain requested to speak to Minister Fudge.

Within 5 minutes, they found themselves being led to the Minister's office. Harry and Hermione were told to wait outside while the Delacours entered the office to speak to Minister Fudge.

Harry and Hermione stood on opposite walls, facing each other. Harry noticed that Hermione;s behaviour had changed ever since the ride from the orphanage.

"Are you alright 'Mione?" Harry asked, concerned, while bending slightly, trying to reach see Hermione's eyes.

Hermione bit the bottom of her lips. _Why is Harry making it so difficult for me?_

"Yes, I'm fine." She replied curtly trying to end the conversation there. However, it was clear that Harry had other plans.

"What's wrong, 'Mione? You can tell me."

Luckily for Hermione, she was saved from answering the question by the Delacours who had just left the Minister's office.

Alain, oblivious to the slightly tense atmosphere between Harry and Hermione, begun to explain to the children how the portkey would work. However, Apolline was not so oblivious, and immediately noticed the interaction between Harry and Hermione, casting both slightly worried and concerned looks.

After Alain warned the children of the slight nausea they would feel on their first few uses of the portkey, he told them to grab on to the portkey, which was a pen. "You will eventually get used to it though!"

Due to the small size of the pen, Harry's hand was placed on top of Hermione's and Harry felt Hermione's hand tense ever so slightly, causing Harry to frown.

 _What happened?_

 ** _Line Break_**

 __"Papa, Mama!" The first thing that Harry heard upon recovering from the effects of portkey travel was the sound of a girl around his and Hermione's age. When he opened his eyes, he saw a French girl hugging Alain and Apolline tightly. Behind her was another girl, with a deep resemblance to the younger girl, and looked around twelve. Both girls had sapphire blue eyes and silvery blonde hair, just like Apolline's. _They must be the two daughters Apolline spoke of._

After the quick Delacour family reunion, the girl looked away from her parents and spotted Harry and Hermione standing some distance away. She immediately pointed to the two and asked, "Who are they?"

"Yes, I have something to discuss with you girls, if you could follow me to leisure room please. Harry, Hermione, you two follow as well."

Once everyone was seated comfortably in the leisure room, Alain started, "Girls, these two are Harry and Hermione. Harry, Hermione, this is Gabrielle," Alain pointed at the younger girl, who giggled and waved cheerily at the two. "And this is Fleur," Alain then pointed at the older girl, who merely nodded her head at Harry and Hermione. "Gabrielle is going to be 9 this year, just like Harry and Hermione, and Fleur is turning 12 this year."

"Gabrielle, Fleur, we were on our visit to Britain due to my position as Head of Defense of France and decided to spend some time going around the country. However, when we were passing by an orphanage, we noticed that it was in ruins and there were small fires in certain places. Of course, your mother and I decided to investigate. In one of the rooms, we found Harry and Hermione here and after a small test, we found out that they were actually magical. Therefore, we gave them the offer to stay with us for the time being before deciding what to do. I hope you girls will be ok with that."

Gabrielle looked so excited that Harry was almost afraid that she might burst from all the excitement. Gabrielle started rambling about all the different things they could do together when Alain cut her off and told her to calm down. Sheepishly, Gabrielle stopped rambling and blushed a deep red before lowering her head, staring at her feet.

On the other hand, Fleur seemed to be in deep thought and it was clear that she was conflicted on the issue. However, eventually, she nodded as well, showing her agreement.

"That's great! Now why don't the two of you come with me to see what we've bought for you while Apolline brings Harry and Hermione to their rooms?"

The girls agreed and followed their father enthusiastically, leaving Harry and Hermione with Apolline, who was gently shaking her head.

"They can be such a handful sometimes. Gabrielle on one hand, so active and cheerful, while Fleur, on the other hand, is so quiet. Now why don't the two of you follow me and I can show you to the rooms you would be staying in for the rest of the week. Now, would the two of you like a shared room, like the one the two of you had in the orphanage or would you like separate rooms?"

Harry smiled and was about to agree to a shared room when Hermione spoke up.

"Separate please."

Harry was shocked. First, Hermione's strange behavior. Next, Hermione refusing to tell Harry about her problems. And now, Hermione wanted separate rooms? Over the past few days, Harry had almost lost his friend twice. The first to his and her affections to each other and the second due to the attack on the orphanage. Would this incident cause another separation? Harry growled frustrated, before noticing that Apolline and Hermione had already walked of towards the rooms, causing him to jog in order to catch up to them.

When they reached the room, Harry immediately took hold of Hermione's hand, "Hermione, what's wrong, pleas speak to me. Remember what Ms. Claire said about speaking to each other about our problems?"

Hermione struggled to get her hand free from Harry's grasp, tears starting to form at the hurt her plan was causing to both her and to Harry. _But it's necessary._ She reminded herself, and with a final pull, Hermione's hand was free, allowing her to quickly run into her room before locking the door.

Apolline, who had witnessed the entire incident, gave Harry a gentle hug, whispering to him, "Give her some space. Girls need their own space sometimes. Let her think through her problems, maybe give her a day or two to calm down and then you could try to talk to her again, ok?"

Harry could only nod numbly, his vision still set on the locked door.

 _ **Line Break**_

 __Over the next few days, Hermione barely spoke to Harry, only exchanging slight greetings during meal times. Strangely, the only times she was out of her room were either for her meals or, strangely enough, to ask Alain or Apolline for magical textbooks.

After a few days of Hermione asking for magical textbooks, Alain simply brought Hermione to a small library the Delacours owned. This managed to get Hermione out of her room more, only to spend all of her time in the library studying.

Hermione was reading through the First Year's textbook on charms when she heard someone pulling a seat beside her and taking a seat. _Not Harry again._ Hermione had to take several deep breaths in order to stop herself from jumping out of her seat and crushing Harry with a hug.

However, when the person spoke, it was clear that it wasn't Harry.

"Hello?"

Hermione turned to see the youngest of the Delacours, Gabrielle.

"Hello. Was there something you needed?" Hermione answered.

Gabrielle shook her head cutely before speaking, "No. I've been seeing you in the library recently, I come to library a lot too. I want to learn to become better at magic than my sister!"

Hermione smiled, "I'm trying to learn more about magic too."

Gabrielle giggled before commenting, "Why don't we learn together? It can get very lonely in the library sometimes."

Hermione immediately agreed, these few days of solitude has not treated her well and she could definitely use the company.

After a few minutes, Gabrielle spoke up again, "Hermione, if you don't mind me asking, why do you want to learn magic so much?"

Hermione gave a slight smile, feeling slightly relieved that she could share her motives with someone else. Surely Gabrielle would understand, with both of them being in the similar situations.

"I need to get stronger so I can stand up for myself. The boy who came with me, he's my best friend, but throughout the years of us being friends, it had always been him protecting me from harm while I cried in the background, but now I want to be able to protect him as well, instead of being the weakling at the corner hiding while Harry protected me."

At the entrance of the library, Harry stood stunned. He was about to enter the library to look for Hermione when he heard the exchange between Hermione and Gabrielle.

 _At least now I understand what Hermione is trying to do. I'll give her some space, when she's finally ready she can talk to me._

With a sad smile on Harry's face, he walked away from the library.

 _ **Line Break**_

 __While Harry finally understood Hermione's intentions, it did not hurt any less whenever Hermione refused to look at him or sat several seats away from him at mealtime. He missed all the contact with Hermione, all the small cuddles on the couch in front of the fireplace while they read a book, or the occasional hugs they gave each other whenever they were happy.

Whenever Hermione was nearby, Harry couldn't help but give longing glances to Hermione. In all of his days at the Delacour's, he was lonely, it almost seemed like he was back in the days at the orphanage before he met Hermione. He had no companions but himself and his books, with the only people speaking to him being adults.

As Harry was deep in thought, he did not notice Fleur making her way over to Harry.

"Harry?"

Harry opened his eyes, swiping away at the few tears that had made it out of his eyes, before looking up, seeing Fleur Delacour.

Harry forced a small smile on his face and replied, "Hello Fleur."

Fleur frowned. _Was he crying?_

"I just wanted to apologise for how I was slightly rude to you and Hermione when you first arrived at our home."

Harry gave a true smile this time, "It's ok Fleur, it's natural that you were untrusting of us initially. Is that all?"

Fleur took a seat beside Harry on the couch, with her body turned slightly so that she could look into Harry's eyes.

"What's troubling you? It helps when you share it with someone, trust me."

Harry held the eye contact between Fleur and himself for a few seconds before letting out a sigh and cupping his face with his hands.

"It's nothing much, it's just that these few days, after the attack on the orphanage that Hermione and I lived in, Hermione seemed to have changed. While she seemed to be more confident, she didn't talk to me as much and started hiding in her room or the library. A few days ago, I overheard a conversation between Hermione and your sister and I found out that Hermione was trying to learn magic so that she can protect me like how I have been protecting her these few years.

"I understand her motives, but still it hurts not being able to hold her hand, or hug her."

Fleur nodded, "Girls never want to feel weak. I'm guessing that after the attack, Hermione saw how weak she was in needing you to protect her in every situation. I suggest that you give her her time to get stronger and become independent. She is doing this _for you_. Eventually, when she is satisfied with herself, she would come back."

Harry smiled, "Thank you Fleur. That really helped me in understanding."

Fleur returned the smile, gently patting his shoulder before walking off in the direction of the library.

 _ **Line Break**_

 __As Fleur entered the library, she noticed Gabrielle sitting with Hermione talking animatedly. She approached the pair with a smile.

"Gabrielle, could you let me talk to Hermione alone? Please?"

Gabrielle looked up to see her sister. Giving Fleur a small hug, she said, "Of course!"

As she walked off, she quickly turned around and waved at Hermione, "Bye Hermione! See you later!"

Hermione smiled in response and waved back, "Bye Gabrielle!"

Hermione then turned to Fleur who had taken the seat that Gabrielle was previously in, only to see Fleur with a frown on her face.

"Why are you doing this? Not only are you hurting yourself, but you are hurting Harry as well eith your actions over the past few days."

Hermione grew slightly frustrated, "I know that! But I need to become stronger so I can stand by Harry's side, protecting him like how he has protected me."

"You claim that you are doing this for Harry, to protect Harry. I only spoke to Harry for a few minutes, but in my conversation with him, it is obvious that he is hurt deeply by your actions. You say you are protecting him, but in the end, you end up hurting him on a much deeper level than what he was suffered while protecting you. These bullies, or the witch who attacked the orphanage, they hurt Harry on a physical level, Harry did it for you, while it had definitely hurt him, he managed to draw comfort with the fact that _at least_ he was able to protect you. Now, you have hurt him on an emotional level. It's funny how the only person who can make you the happiest is also the one who can hurt you beyond repair. This is what he is feeling right now. I don't know much about the attack, but from what I have heard, Harry tried to protect you but was unable to stop the witch from torturing you. You think that you felt weak? What about Harry? The worst feeling in the world is when you know that you did the best that you could, yet it wasn't enough. Harry was already dealing with the guilt eating away at him after he was unable to protect you, now you cause him more pain by avoiding him. Tell me, if you really cared about Harry, what would be the right thing to do?

"I'm sorry for sounding so harsh. I understand that you want to get stronger. I understand that you want to stand by Harry as equals. I know that you actually care a lot about Harry. But both you need to wake up and see that what you are doing isn't helping either you or Harry but only hurting the both of you."

Hermione had tears in her eyes by the end of the Fleur's "speech". But she finally managed to see how wrong she actually was.

Hermione jumped out of her seat and hugged Fleur tightly, mumbling a thousand "Thank you"s under her breath.

Fleur returned the hug before smiling and whispering to Hermione.

"Now go clean yourself up before you go look for Harry and give him a hug too."

Hermione smiled before starting to pack her books. Fleur stopped her, "I'll clean it myself, go look for your boy."

Hermione grinned before running out, shouting a loud "Thank you!" to Fleur, leaving Fleur in the library with a satisfied smile on her face.

 _ **Line Break**_

 __Harry was still resting on the couch, with his head buried in his hands. Even after Fleur had left, he had stayed in this position thinking about his situation with Hermione. He really understood the need of allowing Hermione to be independent and he understand that he needed to give Hermione her own space until she was comfortable, but he still longed for Hermione and missed the days back in the orphanage where they would spend their days together.

"Harry! Harry!"

Harry lifted his head up and groaned. Even his head was playing tricks on him now, hearing Hermione's voice calling for him out of nowhere. He decided that he was probably too tired, with him getting little rest over the past few days and decided to take a late afternoon nap and hopefully catch some sleep.

When he stood up and turned however, he was greeted by the girl he had been worrying about over the past few days.

"Her... Hermione?"

Hermione could only nod mutely as tears started to gather at her eyes.

"Are... are you alright?" Harry was still unsure whether Hermione wanted to talk to him.

Instead of answering the question, Hermione walked forward and gave Harry a tight hug.

Harry hesitated for a second before immediately returning the hug, resting his chin on Hermione's shoulder. They held the embrace for a few minutes, both unwilling to let go of each other. However, Hermione was the one who first spoke up.

"Harry, I'm so sorry. I was so stupid. After everything that had happened, I just felt so weak. And I wanted to be able to stand by your side as an equal so I thought that I needed to grow stronger before you felt that I was too useless and left me. I'm so sorry Harry. You must have been hurt when I ignored you these few days."

Harry smiled. "What matters 'Mione, is that we are back together now. And 'Mione, I will never, _never_ , find you useless. _I love you 'Mione_. I may have been protecting you physically over these years, making sure that you would never get hurt, but you, 'Mione, helped me emotionally. Back when I was 6, when I protected you from Peter and his gang of bullies, you gave me something that I never had, but had always longed for: a friend. You gave me more than that. You gave me a companion. After that for this past few years, you have been my source of happiness.

"So listen up Hermione. You are not useless. You are more than anything I can wish for. Never once have I truly thanked you for your companionship. _Thank you my dear 'Mione, for being by my side._ "

Hermione was so glad that Harry had felt this way about her. "Thank you Harry. I will still try my best to become stronger though. I wanted to learn more about magic to protect you, to be able to watch your back as you have watched mine and I know that I will be able to do that someday."

Harry nodded, "I only have one request."

Hermione leaned back from Harry's embrace and asked, "What's that?"

Harry grinned, "Let me learn with you."

Hermione giggled and nodded her head, "Of course, Harry!" before giving him a playful contemplative look, "Unless you are too slow to keep up with me and Gabrielle!"

Harry looked insulted for a moment before realising that Hermione was teasing him. Before he could say anything however, Hermione had leapt away from him and started to run off.

Harry immediately took chase and shouted after Hermione, "You're gonna pay for that 'Mione!"

Hermione turned around and stuck her tongue out, "You have to catch me first, mister!"

Apolline, who was just walking down the corridor, noticed the chase between Harry and Hermione and smiled. She was glad that the pair were finally able to get back together. Both of them looked so depressed before and it was clear to everyone that they missed each other.

As she was clearing up the mess the children created from the chase, she noticed Fleur standing near the entrance of the library with a self-satisfied smile. Apolline gave Fleur a small hug and said, "Well done my little flower."

 _ **A/N: I wasn't supposed to cut this chapter off at this length. This chapter was supposed to be around 8-9k words, but as something had came up, my morning and afternoon had been taken up, therefore I had to rush as much as I could before I went to sleep. I was only able to reach about 4.5k words, which is 1k more than the usual. Hopefully this would be ok for now. To make up for this, I will be starting on the next chapter tomorrow and hopefully finish it within a day or so. It will cover the rest of the week and cover Harry and Hermione's decision on whether or not they want to stay with the Delacours.**_

 _ **Once again, if you liked it, please give me a follow or a favourite and if you didn't, suggestions and feedback is always welcome.**_

 _ **Until next time, Primevere :D**_


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